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Petting Zoo, Barbican Centre, London

Barbican Petting Zoo, 2013

Medium: Real-Time Behavioral Environment / Soft Robotic Installation

In the form of suspended robotic arms 'Petting Zoo' (2013) is a generative robotic installation populated by inquisitive and artificially intelligent creatures, which respond to human engagement. Using a real-time camera-tracking system that can locate people and detect gesture and activity each pet has the capacity to process data so that they can learn and explore different behaviours by interacting with the public and each other. Over the course of the exhibition these personalities will be developed through human interaction enabling intimate and immediate exchanges that are playful, emotive and evolving. The piece is an exploration in artificial intelligence and communication with our environment, constructing and prompting us to think about how we can co-evolve and inhabit our future environments and cities.